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“You told me you weren’t a casual hookup kind of girl. I’m a casual hookup kind of guy.”

“Forever?” she asks quietly. “You’ll never, ever fall in love or get married again because of Shandy? You’re actually going to let her have that much control over the rest of your life?”

“No, but I don’t want you to be the one I test out the waters with.”

“I’m a grown woman, Cash. I know there are no guarantees in life. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t live it to the fullest. It wouldn’t be my first broken heart.”

“What are you saying?” I ask carefully. I’m pretty sure I know but I need her to say it.

“I like you too,” she says simply.

Except we’ve already established that nothing about this is as simple as whether or not we like each other.

“What about Byron?” I ask cautiously.

She sighs. “You’re going to have to learn to talk to me before you jump to conclusions. I have a lot of male friends, including Byron. He doesn’t swing the heterosexual way.”

Oh, thank fuck.

Of course, now I’ve made an ass of myself—again.

“I didn’t used to be the jealous type,” I say slowly. “I’ll admit to being gun-shy with that kind of thing. I’ll do my best to be better if we’re going to give this a chance.”

“I appreciate that.” She’s quiet for a little too long before she says, “are you sure, Cash? If this is a case of you wanting something you can’t have, please don’t play games with me. That’s all I ask. If you ever get to a point where you’re just done, please talk to me directly. No cheating, no game-playing where you suddenly stop responding to texts or making excuses about why we can’t see each other. I can forgive you for breaking my heart—but I will be hella pissed off if you just ghost me. And believe me, you won’t like pissed off Maya.”

That makes me smile, and I reach across the console for her hand.

“I won’t ghost you,” I say. “That’s something I can honestly promise.”

“Then we’re good. Just be prepared for me to be gone a lot.”

“Ditto.”

She finally looks at me and her smile is breathtaking. “I’m not going to ask you if you’re sure again—this is your last chance to get out of this.”

“Honey, if I wanted to get out of this, we wouldn’t be here.”

“So…date night do-over?”

“Absolutely. How about Saturday night?”

“Saturday is the grand opening of the bookstore. I promised Jayne I’d be there.”

“Oh, right. But that’s during the day, isn’t it?”

“During the day is like an open house with sales and giveaways and local authors showing up to sign books. That evening is a special event where people can bedazzle books and⁠—”

“Be-what?” I ask in confusion.

“Basically glue rhinestones all over the covers. It’s like a crafty thing.”

“Will you be there for all of it?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll definitely be there during the day to help out. A lot of the guys from the team will be there.”

“Including me.” I nod. “So, let’s play Saturday by ear…we can decide if dinner is on our radar after the daytime events are over. If not, maybe we can go to a movie or something.”

“Sounds perfect.” She squeezes my hand, and the first sliver of indecision breaks free.